Sunday, June 26, 2005
The past three weeks in review
Having the Manulife position hanging over my head had put a damper on my efforts even though it shouldn't have. The position went to someone with more WebSphere experience. This is no surprise as I am one level behind and soon to be two. I found out after lunch on Friday that one of my former teammates, the Linux anarchist, had been hired by Edulinx. This was the first place that I interviewed with back in November. He's spending one and a half hours commuting one way. Hopefully, it's on his bike.
Reposting my resume on Workopolis and Monster after getting my MQ certification was a mistake. I am getting calls from recruiters again (WAS admin at Honda and Toyota, middleware support at IBM, middleware specialist at WSIB (not in this lifetime)), but nothing has come from these. In fact, Honda fed back to the agency that I had no AIX or WAS admin skills. I don't know whose resume they were looking at.
I have gotten automated rejection notices for Blackberry Change Coordinator at RIM, Service Delivery Consultant and Infrastructure Integration Consultant at CIBC and Technical Support Analyst at RBC. Also, a Technical Analyst position at HP was cancelled. This is better than not hearing anything but not much. I'm into reruns on some jobs (Middleware Support Specialist at CI Funds, Change Manager at Manulife). How pathetic. There were also applications for WebSphere Administrator via Ian Martin and UNIX programmer at CBC.
One more week until the family vacation at my mother's cottage. The guys fish, my daughter swims and reads and I cook and hang out with my mother.
D.
Reposting my resume on Workopolis and Monster after getting my MQ certification was a mistake. I am getting calls from recruiters again (WAS admin at Honda and Toyota, middleware support at IBM, middleware specialist at WSIB (not in this lifetime)), but nothing has come from these. In fact, Honda fed back to the agency that I had no AIX or WAS admin skills. I don't know whose resume they were looking at.
I have gotten automated rejection notices for Blackberry Change Coordinator at RIM, Service Delivery Consultant and Infrastructure Integration Consultant at CIBC and Technical Support Analyst at RBC. Also, a Technical Analyst position at HP was cancelled. This is better than not hearing anything but not much. I'm into reruns on some jobs (Middleware Support Specialist at CI Funds, Change Manager at Manulife). How pathetic. There were also applications for WebSphere Administrator via Ian Martin and UNIX programmer at CBC.
One more week until the family vacation at my mother's cottage. The guys fish, my daughter swims and reads and I cook and hang out with my mother.
D.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Another busy week
RBC posted an MQ job late last week. I let one of my former teammates know and then scheduled my MQ certification. Monday afternoon, I went down to the city and wrote the exam. I passed but just barely. I did way better on the sample exam. I submitted my application to RBC as soon as I got home.
Tuesday afternoon, I ran up to Cookstown Auto and got a used fender for my van. They said they had a blue one over the phone, but it was teal and it had a big rust spot on it. There was also a green one (more rust). I ended up taking a red (!) one and even it had stone chips, but it was only $85.
With assistance from a close neighbour, my son and my husband replaced the damaged one on Wednesday. There was damage to the inner fender but they banged and pulled and got it straightened out. Took the better part of the day. That evening, I went to my church's Strawberry Supper. The all-you-eat menu was ham, mashed potato salad flavoured with pickle juice, spring salad with raspberry vinaigrette, fresh buns, strawberries, white cake (slab) and real whipped cream. I bussed tables and poured coffee/tea for a couple of hours. I snuck out when my back told me it was time to go.
This afternoon (Thursday), I took the new pickup down to the dealer for a warranty oil change and tire rotation. There was an email from Manulife when I got back that they were proceeding with a candidate with more WebSphere experience as I half expected. My husband thought that I had this one for sure. At least, we can stop sweating about a move to Waterloo.
Tomorrow (Friday), I head downtown to have lunch with the guys. It was supposed to be my boss's last week on the job, but he's been extended to September. We can all make it so we're going ahead anyway. I'm looking forward to having a couple of beers with them.
D.
Tuesday afternoon, I ran up to Cookstown Auto and got a used fender for my van. They said they had a blue one over the phone, but it was teal and it had a big rust spot on it. There was also a green one (more rust). I ended up taking a red (!) one and even it had stone chips, but it was only $85.
With assistance from a close neighbour, my son and my husband replaced the damaged one on Wednesday. There was damage to the inner fender but they banged and pulled and got it straightened out. Took the better part of the day. That evening, I went to my church's Strawberry Supper. The all-you-eat menu was ham, mashed potato salad flavoured with pickle juice, spring salad with raspberry vinaigrette, fresh buns, strawberries, white cake (slab) and real whipped cream. I bussed tables and poured coffee/tea for a couple of hours. I snuck out when my back told me it was time to go.
This afternoon (Thursday), I took the new pickup down to the dealer for a warranty oil change and tire rotation. There was an email from Manulife when I got back that they were proceeding with a candidate with more WebSphere experience as I half expected. My husband thought that I had this one for sure. At least, we can stop sweating about a move to Waterloo.
Tomorrow (Friday), I head downtown to have lunch with the guys. It was supposed to be my boss's last week on the job, but he's been extended to September. We can all make it so we're going ahead anyway. I'm looking forward to having a couple of beers with them.
D.
Saturday, June 18, 2005
A busy week
This past week has been busy, both personally and on the job front.
Monday, I took my old pickup into the mechanics for a preliminary safety check. I want to keep it on the road for six more months because it's handy having three vehicles when you have three people driving. They inspect it (everything checks out OK), do an emission test and replace a U-joint. The bill is close to $300. My daughter will be springing for the insurance on this baby.
Wednesday afternoon, I take my son to the oral surgeon. Our dentist had recommended that he have his wisdom teeth removed. All four will come out to the tune of over $1500, but the company will be paying for this. Thank God for good benefit plans.
Wednesday evening, I chair a Ministry and Personnel meeting at church. I want the meeting to be shorter than the previous one which was two hours and way too long. I try to ramrod the agenda, but people like to talk. We finish earlier but only by 15 minutes.
Thursday afternoon, I head downtown for what will probably be the final farewell party for CLA. There is a good turnout, and I work the room. I have a hard time answering the "what are you doing" question but enjoy seeing everyone. Quite a few people who left after I did have jobs. In fact, some have already quit one and even moved on to another. After I tell a group that I suck at interviewing, one of the guys does an impression of my very direct style during an interview that is bang-on and funny but disconcerting. I have to leave early because ...
Thursday evening, I attend an Official Board meeting at church arriving an hour late. We need to review our mission statement as one of the recommendations to get out of oversight. A fellow recommended by Presbytery comes in to do a presentation on visioning. It will cost a lot of money, but the Official Board goes for it. The meeting ends at 10 p.m.
Friday afternoon, I drive down to Waterloo for a second interview with Manulife. I can't answer half the Windows questions but handle the AIX questions with ease. It's with the same people I met with last time except the one fellow has transferred to Halifax (!?). Again, the interview is very civilized and goes exactly as scheduled. The manager joins us towards the end and says he hasn't seen my resume (quoi?). To me that seems like a speaker at a funeral saying he never met the person. The lead interviewer tells me that they have three or four others to do and he should have some feedback by the end of next week. I'm a version of WebSphere behind and I don't know Portal Server at all (along with being Windows challenged) so I'm not really expecting anything to come of this. Still, this has been a positive interviewing experience and confidence builder after the two disasters in April.
D.
Monday, I took my old pickup into the mechanics for a preliminary safety check. I want to keep it on the road for six more months because it's handy having three vehicles when you have three people driving. They inspect it (everything checks out OK), do an emission test and replace a U-joint. The bill is close to $300. My daughter will be springing for the insurance on this baby.
Wednesday afternoon, I take my son to the oral surgeon. Our dentist had recommended that he have his wisdom teeth removed. All four will come out to the tune of over $1500, but the company will be paying for this. Thank God for good benefit plans.
Wednesday evening, I chair a Ministry and Personnel meeting at church. I want the meeting to be shorter than the previous one which was two hours and way too long. I try to ramrod the agenda, but people like to talk. We finish earlier but only by 15 minutes.
Thursday afternoon, I head downtown for what will probably be the final farewell party for CLA. There is a good turnout, and I work the room. I have a hard time answering the "what are you doing" question but enjoy seeing everyone. Quite a few people who left after I did have jobs. In fact, some have already quit one and even moved on to another. After I tell a group that I suck at interviewing, one of the guys does an impression of my very direct style during an interview that is bang-on and funny but disconcerting. I have to leave early because ...
Thursday evening, I attend an Official Board meeting at church arriving an hour late. We need to review our mission statement as one of the recommendations to get out of oversight. A fellow recommended by Presbytery comes in to do a presentation on visioning. It will cost a lot of money, but the Official Board goes for it. The meeting ends at 10 p.m.
Friday afternoon, I drive down to Waterloo for a second interview with Manulife. I can't answer half the Windows questions but handle the AIX questions with ease. It's with the same people I met with last time except the one fellow has transferred to Halifax (!?). Again, the interview is very civilized and goes exactly as scheduled. The manager joins us towards the end and says he hasn't seen my resume (quoi?). To me that seems like a speaker at a funeral saying he never met the person. The lead interviewer tells me that they have three or four others to do and he should have some feedback by the end of next week. I'm a version of WebSphere behind and I don't know Portal Server at all (along with being Windows challenged) so I'm not really expecting anything to come of this. Still, this has been a positive interviewing experience and confidence builder after the two disasters in April.
D.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
As long as nothing breaks, part 3 (?)
The other night, my daughter calls home in a panic. She had just noticed a big dent in the right front corner of my van. It's still drivable so she continues on with her evening. She's been driving the van to work lately because they're at a horse show and that's where she thinks it happened.
I take a look later after she arrives home, and it's bad. I figure at least a couple of thousand dollars damage. My husband says $3500. The fender is badly dented and the headlight pushed in so much the grill is buckled. I don't want to put it through my insurance, but I can't afford to get it fixed right now. A P&C guy at my church says he knows someone who can do it cheap (on the side), but I don't think my husband will go for it. It won't be pretty.
The next morning our coffee percolator stopped working.
D.
I take a look later after she arrives home, and it's bad. I figure at least a couple of thousand dollars damage. My husband says $3500. The fender is badly dented and the headlight pushed in so much the grill is buckled. I don't want to put it through my insurance, but I can't afford to get it fixed right now. A P&C guy at my church says he knows someone who can do it cheap (on the side), but I don't think my husband will go for it. It won't be pretty.
The next morning our coffee percolator stopped working.
D.
Saturday, June 11, 2005
My feeble attempts at networking
After I applied for a job at Sun Life, I sent out a few feelers to some fellow former CLAers. The one fellow responded and agreed to a phone call. It took several attempts to connect. He left CLA eight years ago to go to IBM.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to help much. He had never even heard of change management and had no contacts. I did find out that IT was in a different division. Also, Clarica still operates out of Waterloo. The other Sun Lifer got back to me a bit later as he had been on vacation. He's in the same division as the first guy. I have another indirect contact I'll (reluctantly) try to use next time. This guy has access to the recruiters. I guess I really should set up an Information Referral meeting with him.
I sent a note to a storage lady who had gone to a P&C company close to our old one. I've been monitoring their postings but haven't seen anything that's a good fit yet. There's only two people doing MQ there, one mainframe and one distributed platform. There's only one person doing change management. She gave the names of two managers. There's probably another IR meeting in here somewhere.
She reminded me that a CLA process person is doing it there now. I gave him a call and found out that he's in charge of IT recruiting. Bingo! Their IT is about a third of the size of CLA, but they are growing (too fast he claims). We had a nice chat, and he asked for my resume at the end. He confirmed my direction with regards to certification. A former CLAer and Domino guy got his CISSP and was hired there without any real experience.
This all took place last month so I have to get something going for this month.
D.
Unfortunately, he wasn't able to help much. He had never even heard of change management and had no contacts. I did find out that IT was in a different division. Also, Clarica still operates out of Waterloo. The other Sun Lifer got back to me a bit later as he had been on vacation. He's in the same division as the first guy. I have another indirect contact I'll (reluctantly) try to use next time. This guy has access to the recruiters. I guess I really should set up an Information Referral meeting with him.
I sent a note to a storage lady who had gone to a P&C company close to our old one. I've been monitoring their postings but haven't seen anything that's a good fit yet. There's only two people doing MQ there, one mainframe and one distributed platform. There's only one person doing change management. She gave the names of two managers. There's probably another IR meeting in here somewhere.
She reminded me that a CLA process person is doing it there now. I gave him a call and found out that he's in charge of IT recruiting. Bingo! Their IT is about a third of the size of CLA, but they are growing (too fast he claims). We had a nice chat, and he asked for my resume at the end. He confirmed my direction with regards to certification. A former CLAer and Domino guy got his CISSP and was hired there without any real experience.
This all took place last month so I have to get something going for this month.
D.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The thirtieth week in review
Seven months without a job!? My brother-in-law lost his job last week after the acquisition of his company. So that makes two brothers-in-law and my best friend's husband since I was let go.
I applied for jobs at Manulife, BMO and Emergis. I got an email notification that my application last week for Release Coordinator - Downtown with RBC had been passed to the hiring manager. I've gotten one of these before but nothing came of it.
Thursday I got a call from Manulife to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. They said it was a better fit for my resume. The position is WebSphere and portal technical support. The drive down to Waterloo was good (all highway), but too long to commute (90 minutes), especially during rush hour. I must admit, though, that the commute to Toronto is getting this long. The people were really nice (not like WSIB) and the interview ran exactly as scheduled. They commented on my ITIL certification a couple of times. Unfortunately, I froze up on a couple of technical questions. I keep hoping that this is just the dress rehearsal for the interview for the really great job. The lead interviewer's final comment was that I would have to serious thought to my situation (meaning family and relocation).
I don't understand why they invited me down so soon. The job hadn't been posted to the Internet yet (it went up Monday). You think they'd wait for the responses and then shortlist. To me, that's just doing due diligence.
D.
I applied for jobs at Manulife, BMO and Emergis. I got an email notification that my application last week for Release Coordinator - Downtown with RBC had been passed to the hiring manager. I've gotten one of these before but nothing came of it.
Thursday I got a call from Manulife to interview for a job I hadn't applied for. They said it was a better fit for my resume. The position is WebSphere and portal technical support. The drive down to Waterloo was good (all highway), but too long to commute (90 minutes), especially during rush hour. I must admit, though, that the commute to Toronto is getting this long. The people were really nice (not like WSIB) and the interview ran exactly as scheduled. They commented on my ITIL certification a couple of times. Unfortunately, I froze up on a couple of technical questions. I keep hoping that this is just the dress rehearsal for the interview for the really great job. The lead interviewer's final comment was that I would have to serious thought to my situation (meaning family and relocation).
I don't understand why they invited me down so soon. The job hadn't been posted to the Internet yet (it went up Monday). You think they'd wait for the responses and then shortlist. To me, that's just doing due diligence.
D.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Networking
The following is correspondence I've received through our Yahoo group that I hope to actively pursue (read from the bottom up).
To: D.
From: M.
Subject: Re: Fun with recruiters
Hi, I'm glad you are reconsidering. A friend of mine left the sametime I did and he landed a contract job through an agency. Later, he found out he was not happy because the agency really did not represent his interest so he quit.
Now, I'm taking him through the Right/Axmith technique, helping him relearn the sessions he took but admitted he slept through it because he was not open to using the technique. ....if you want a refresher, please do not hesitate to let me know. I really don't mind meeting over the phone or over coffee to help you relearn the technique that was taught in the library.
I left CLA in August 2003 and landed in January 2004. I spent most of the summer/fall studying for a designation exam. Once that was done I committed to doing a lot of soul searching (re took two interest courses and gathered information on what I was interested in pursuing). Gathering information on what I was interested in took a lot of passion,dedication and persistent on my part.......and yes, it was truly a hidden one. I had no competition and I took the time to assess the environment including my new team members. I had to really understand their life's strategies and principles to ensure that I could really professionally develop with their support.During November, December and January, I conducted approximately 6 information gathering sessions a week....totalling 72 sessions over a three month period. I was busy! Have fun and please let me know if you want to chat --- M.
D. wrote: I have tried to use the Right-Axmith info gathering technique without success, but I am reconsidering. A couple of questions for you: how long did it take to find your new job? Was the job you landed truly a hidden one? Thanks,
From: M.
To: D.
Subject: Re: Fun with recruiters
Hi,
I'm sorry you are having a hard time with the agencies. I have to admit that I often don't depend of them. Have you thought about using the Right/Axmith information gathering technique. I found it was a blessing to finally let my natural curiousity drive me to create opportunities in the hidden market. When I left CLA in the summer of 2003, I networked by conducting 72 information gathering sessions (using Right's technique) and landed myself by tapping the hidden market. If you want to learn more about this technique, write back. I found it to be a true blessing.
Take care, M.
D. wrote: Agencies/recruiters can be a mixed blessing. They've been getting me in the door, but not always for the right job. You get what you pay for. When I got to one interview, I couldn't find the company name in the building directory and I wasn't given a floor reference. Then I couldn't reach my recruiter because he was at lunch. The job was actually with a subcontracter whose name hadn't even been mentioned. Once I got the location right, the job was for a Windows platform person and I'm an AIX specialist. I felt like ending the interview after the first five minutes. This was with one of the biggest agencies in Canada.
I applied for another job but the agency that submitted me kept stonewalling even though I was a pretty good fit skill-wise. I found out later that another agency had submitted my resume without my authorization. For some reason, HR thought that both submissions were authorized. This resulted in me being black-balled by the company. Another job came up at the same place that I was an even better fit for, but they wouldn't accept my application. The two agencies involved were both smaller ones.
To: D.
From: M.
Subject: Re: Fun with recruiters
Hi, I'm glad you are reconsidering. A friend of mine left the sametime I did and he landed a contract job through an agency. Later, he found out he was not happy because the agency really did not represent his interest so he quit.
Now, I'm taking him through the Right/Axmith technique, helping him relearn the sessions he took but admitted he slept through it because he was not open to using the technique. ....if you want a refresher, please do not hesitate to let me know. I really don't mind meeting over the phone or over coffee to help you relearn the technique that was taught in the library.
I left CLA in August 2003 and landed in January 2004. I spent most of the summer/fall studying for a designation exam. Once that was done I committed to doing a lot of soul searching (re took two interest courses and gathered information on what I was interested in pursuing). Gathering information on what I was interested in took a lot of passion,dedication and persistent on my part.......and yes, it was truly a hidden one. I had no competition and I took the time to assess the environment including my new team members. I had to really understand their life's strategies and principles to ensure that I could really professionally develop with their support.During November, December and January, I conducted approximately 6 information gathering sessions a week....totalling 72 sessions over a three month period. I was busy! Have fun and please let me know if you want to chat --- M.
D. wrote: I have tried to use the Right-Axmith info gathering technique without success, but I am reconsidering. A couple of questions for you: how long did it take to find your new job? Was the job you landed truly a hidden one? Thanks,
From: M.
To: D.
Subject: Re: Fun with recruiters
Hi,
I'm sorry you are having a hard time with the agencies. I have to admit that I often don't depend of them. Have you thought about using the Right/Axmith information gathering technique. I found it was a blessing to finally let my natural curiousity drive me to create opportunities in the hidden market. When I left CLA in the summer of 2003, I networked by conducting 72 information gathering sessions (using Right's technique) and landed myself by tapping the hidden market. If you want to learn more about this technique, write back. I found it to be a true blessing.
Take care, M.
D. wrote: Agencies/recruiters can be a mixed blessing. They've been getting me in the door, but not always for the right job. You get what you pay for. When I got to one interview, I couldn't find the company name in the building directory and I wasn't given a floor reference. Then I couldn't reach my recruiter because he was at lunch. The job was actually with a subcontracter whose name hadn't even been mentioned. Once I got the location right, the job was for a Windows platform person and I'm an AIX specialist. I felt like ending the interview after the first five minutes. This was with one of the biggest agencies in Canada.
I applied for another job but the agency that submitted me kept stonewalling even though I was a pretty good fit skill-wise. I found out later that another agency had submitted my resume without my authorization. For some reason, HR thought that both submissions were authorized. This resulted in me being black-balled by the company. Another job came up at the same place that I was an even better fit for, but they wouldn't accept my application. The two agencies involved were both smaller ones.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
I got published (again)!
http://www.profitguide.com/enewsletters/peer_to_peer/article.jsp?content=20050601_101846_5864
This is the second time my response has been used. Maybe I'm in the wrong business.
D.
This is the second time my response has been used. Maybe I'm in the wrong business.
D.
